In recent years, the health care industry has become more aware of the needs that larger-sized patients have during hospitalization and other long term care stays. Those patients that exceed a certain weight and body mass index (BMI), typically 400 pounds and a BMI of 40, are referred to as “bariatric” patients. Bariatric patients often suffer from health ailments related to being bed ridden for extended periods of time, such as skin conditions and poor blood circulation. Additionally, bariatric patients are often difficult for health care providers or workers to physically lift and position because of their size. Injuries are common among nurses and nurse assistants working with these types of patients, and it is estimated that a single back injury to a provider costs the health care industry between $15,000 and $18,000.
To address these issues, special equipment has been devised for moving bariatric patients from place to place, and also to serve as their bed in health care facilities. A portable bariatric bed resting on a number of wheels is one such device, combining a mattress system configured to facilitate air circulation beneath the patient with an articulating frame that can be adjusted to a number of positions beneficial to moving the position of the patient on the mattress, as well as moving them into and out of the bed.
While advances have been made in bariatric bed design, significant problems still exist with maneuvering this type of equipment within a facility. Due to the sheer size of bariatric beds and the combined weight of both the bed and the patient (sometimes exceeding 1600 pounds), most health care workers find it difficult to push and steer these beds in a desired direction of travel. For instance, if a worker were pushing a loaded bariatric transport down a hallway and wished to turn right or left into a room, the inertia of the bed would make it difficult to slow down the speed of the bed and initiate rotation into a doorway. Further, workers may excessively strain themselves in attempting to steer the bed, putting a worker at risk for physical injuries, some of which could be career ending. The need to transport patients on such beds quickly and safely is even more acute in an emergency evacuation situation (e.g., fire, tornado, terrorism threat), where a finite number of workers must move a set number of patients into a safe area of a building or completely out of a building. With bariatric patients, as many as 5 or 6 workers may be required to maneuver the loaded bed, compromising their ability to care for other patients in need. Difficulties also arise in situations where a bed needs to be rotated in place without moving laterally too much in any direction (e.g., within a patient's room). Workers will often find that it is difficult to gauge and control whether the bed is actually rotating in place or “wandering” toward a wall, medical equipment, or other hazards.
Some portable hospital beds include a propulsion system for aiding a worker in moving the bed. However, existing powered bed designs are frequently complicated and often cannot be used to actually drive and steer the bed. Furthermore, such beds often lack an operator friendly control system for directing the bed in a desired movement pattern.